Apple set to establish official presence in India

Apple is all set to establish an official presence in India, launching six stores between Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Straying from the norm, the stores will be launched in partnership with manufacturing company Tata’s consumer electronics chain Croma. Apple devices are already available in India through franchises and other electronics shops, but the Tata contract finally allows them to have an official presence in the country of 1.2 billion people.

Although the six locations will be at Croma’s own stores and will not be operated by Apple Inc, they will feature the signature design, furniture, fixtures and lighting used in Apple stores worldwide and the staff will be trained by the company itself.

The partnership is in accordance with local laws, which stipulate that foreign investors have to have a local partner to set up shops. Apple was hesitant due to the law but by partenering with an Indian company they may get around the law.

Apple hopes to increase their sales in India where 1.7 million iPhones were sold between October 2014 and September 2015, 600,00 more than the previous year. The stores’ opening will coincide with the Diwali festival in November.

Lenskart to aggressively expand offline

Valyoo Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs online eyewear retailer Lenskart, is eyeing earnings of Rs.3,000 crore in the next five years as it aggressively expands its offline presence.

Valyoo is seeking franchise Partners  to open 2,000 franchise stores in next 5 years, a top executive said. “At the end of the day, we want more and more touch points to be available,” chief executive officer and founder Peyush Bansal said. “They have great marketing and customer acquisition channel.” The firm is looking mostly at smaller cities. “Though it’s a slower market but has huge opportunity, People have high aspirations and want to buy quality products,” Bansal said.

There is significant advantage of online and offline merchandise. It is all about how a company reaches out to more and more customers, While these outlets not only help customers link themselves to the brand but they also lead to increase in buying. They also reduce the return rate as the customers have checked the product offline.”

Gold’s Gym aggressive for expansion in tier-I, II, III cities

Gold’s Gym India is aggressively seeking franchise partners in tier-I, II and III cities to spread its operations fast across India. At present, the US-based fitness chain has 92 operational and 20 under construction gyms in India.

Commenting on the ideal franchise gym location, Nikhil Kakkar, Vice President, Franchising and Operations of the brand, said, “For setting up a franchise gym, a high-street location is recommended and it should be preferably between first and third floor of a building. Parking space is also important. Our team also assists our franchise partners in selecting the location as this is one of most important aspects of the business.”

Along with this, the gym chain has its own Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute for fitness trainers as it lays focus on qualified and trained coaches for its centres. “Trainers are the soul of this business and to have qualified trainers is a must. To ensure this, we have qualified trainers and we also run an institute for fitness trainers’ training i.e. Gold's Gym Fitness Institute,” adds Kakkar.

Gold’s Gym, which started in Venice California in 1965, is one of the largest international gym chains in the world. The India chapter of Gold’s Gym started in 2002, when the first Gold’s Gym India branch was set up in Mumbai.